If you are looking for a Carling Currie Cup game from the penultimate weekend of the league phase that doesn’t have anything riding on it, you are going to be disappointed.
All three games that provide an interesting sideshow to the Vodacom United Rugby Championship quarterfinals – the Sharks match is conveniently placed between the two SA URC games on Saturday – will have massive significance to both the battle for top position and the one for the remaining semifinal placings.
The weekend starts with the Friday afternoon clash between DHL Western Province and the Windhoek Draught Griquas in Stellenbosch. The hosts aren’t in the race for semifinal placings anymore but they will be looking to act as spoilers and their status as underdogs with nothing to lose at Danie Craven Stadium could just make them more dangerous.
The stakes are high for Griquas, however, as a victory will confirm their place in the playoffs and also significantly advance their claim on third position. Where the third placed team will travel for their semifinal could be determined by what happens next: A Toyota Cheetahs win in Friday’s late game against Airlink Pumas will take them back to within touching distance of the Bulls and give them all to play for when they meet the Bulls in their final league game.
Conversely a defeat, which could well happen if the Pumas take last week’s form into the Bloemfontein game and the Cheetahs repeat their no show against Griquas, could leave the Cheetahs out of range and virtually give the Bulls top spot even though the Pretoria team are on a bye this weekend.
In the one Saturday game, the Cell C Sharks will be hoping that home ground advantage will give them an edge against what should be the Sigma Lions URC team. With Griquas now ahead of them on the log and the Pumas breathing down their necks, the Sharks do need to win to keep their playoff ambitions alive. They also need to recover some form for they have been very poor in recent matches.
Weekend Carling Currie Cup fixtures
DHL Western Province v Windhoek Draught Griquas (Cape Town, Friday 16.00)
Western Province have lost a few experienced players back to the Stormers on the URC quarterfinal weekend, but nonetheless they still do have a team that on paper is good enough to push Griquas in the visiting team’s quest to make sure of their semifinal spot. Griquas were outstanding against the Cheetahs last week and their coach Pieter Bergh clearly knows his oats so this is one time Griquas come to the Cape as clear favourites.
Prediction:Griquas to win by 5
Toyota Cheetahs v Airlink Pumas (Bloemfontein, Friday 18.00)
Can the Cheetahs be as poor this week as they were last week up the road in Kimberley? That’s highly unlikely, so they should start as clear favourites against a Pumas team that was unlucky against the Bulls in Pretoria. Like the Griquas, the Pumas have been growing steadily as a team all season and would be third were it not for their narrow defeat in Nelspruit to WP a few weeks ago. However, in Bloemfontein and after the wakeup call of last week, the Cheetahs should be favoured to put things right.
Prediction:Cheetahs to win by 10
Cell C Sharks v Sigma Lions (Durban, Saturday 17.00)
The Sharks started the season well but have struggled in recent times and there is a real prospect of them not making the playoffs if they don’t beat the Lions. A few weeks ago the Sharks would have been clear favourites, but last week the Lions fielded a URC strength team against WP and won and they are likely to do so again. The Sharks’ desperation to win should be made keener by the knowledge their last league game is in Cape Town next week.
Prediction:Lions to win by 7.